45,000 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs Cleared for Kazakhstan Data Center

Kazakhstan marked perhaps the high point of its presidentially proclaimed "year of artificial intelligence" with a visit by technology titan, Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, who said the Central Asian state has the potential to become "aglobalhub for Physical AI." Huang and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met on October 23 for talks aimed at bolstering collaboration between the chipmaking giant and Kazakh companies.

Huang praised the Kazakh tech ecosystem as possessing all the prerequisites to become an AI power. "This new industry requires energy at its foundation, it also requires a population dedicated to science, math and technology. You have richness in both," Huang wasquoted as telling Tokayev during their meeting. Speaking later at apublicforum with Kazakh Minister of AI ZhaslanMadiyev, Huang painted a picture in which Kazakhstan retools its energy sector to power data centers and AI development.

"Instead of just exporting energy, in the future, you could transform energy into intelligence and export intelligence," he said. Huang went on to predict that AI would transform every sector of the Kazakh economy from mining to agriculture. "AI will lift your people," he said. Madiyev indicated that emphasis is being placed on the development of Kazakh-language models.

ai, into Kazakhstan. According to an Nvidiablogpost, Firebird has obtained an export license for 45,000 Nvidia Grace Blackwell GPUs for use in a data center built in conjunction with Kazakhtelecom. The first phase of the project is under construction, with a launch date set for the third quarter of 2027. Firebird's infrastructure capacity in Kazakhstan could reach 500 megawatts once a planned second phase is completed.